


Childhood Memories

by ParadoxProphet



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Backstory, Bullying, Childhood, Childhood Friends, Gen, So it's just Katia and Prompto being friends, This is before they had romantic feelings for each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 23:38:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12736641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParadoxProphet/pseuds/ParadoxProphet
Summary: Katia hadn't had friends before, she didn't know how to make them. But then, she didn't expect to be approached by the kid in her class who no one else liked.





	Childhood Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Oh hey, have this fic about Prompto and Katia as kids and their real first meeting.
> 
> This shouldn't have taken a month to finish, but it did. Oops.

Katia had the tendency to daydream a lot. It kept the 8 year-old happy and let her think she had some friends. Despite living in Insomnia for two years, she still hadn't figured out how to make friends, and she'd be lying if she said it didn't bother her. But she just didn't know what to do. Being a target of bullying by other girls didn't help matters much either. So she spent her days at school usually sitting by herself, daydreaming and drawing and hoping no one would approach her.

Fate has a funny way of messing with one's expectations though.

"Um, hi." A soft voice says from her right side. She turns around to see who's there, not surprised by the figure standing there. It's a young boy, he's chubby and wears glasses, he's holding a camera that he keeps looking at instead of her, his hair is blond and his eyes are blue, there's hints of freckles on his face, and this is the tenth day in a row he's approached her desk. She can't really say she knows this boy. They're in the same class, he's a loner who keeps to himself, he doesn't talk much, he doesn't have any friends, that's about all she knows about him. She can't even recall his name. Though she didn't really remember most of her classmates names.

But every day for ten days, he's come up to her desk like this. Standing around not saying anything aside from a greeting and stuttering. And then the bell rings and he heads back to his desk. She doesn't know why he's doing this, but she's decided that now is gonna be the end of it.

"Why're you doing this?" she asked, startling the young boy. He looked up from his camera, shocked that he got a response.

"Huh? What do you mean?" he asked.

"Did someone put you up to this?" Katia asked, not wanting to assume such a thing, but it wouldn't be the first time so she wants to cover all her bases. She'd been tricked before.

"What? No!" he insists. "You just looked lonely and sad. It was bugging me."

Katia was confused. What kind of reason was that? "Why does me being lonely matter to you?" she asked, her voice sounding colder than she meant for it to.

The boy went quiet for a moment, thinking his answer over. He didn't really know the answer himself, but he had to come up with something. "'Cause I'm in the same boat." he said.

"But I don't have a boat." Katia said.

"No, I mean, we're both sad and lonely. We don't have any friends, so I thought, maybe, I could be yours? That way you don't have to look sad anymore."

Katia was confused. Why did he suddenly want to be her friend? It felt strange, but for some reason she wanted to be friends with him. It was like something was pulling her towards him. Little did she know that he was feeling the same thing. "Okay. Let's be friends then." she said. The two of them could just be alone together.

The boy looked shocked. He wasn't expecting her to say yes. "Really? You don't mind being friends with someone like me?" he asked.

"I don't even know your name, and no one else wants to be friends with me, so I don't care. And you seem nice."

His cheeks went pink. "Oh, uh, Prompto! I mean, my name is Prompto."

Katia giggled a bit. "I'm Katia. Nice to meet ya, Prompto." she said, a genuine smile across her face. Prompto smiled back, holding out his hand to her. She gladly shook it.

\---------------------------------

Katia had never known what having a friend was like, but with Prompto around she began to understand. Sure, maybe they were just friends because of being the outcasts of the class, but it didn't matter to them. It became the same thing every day. The two of them would meet at the start of school and walk to class together, talking about anything that crossed their minds. During lunch and breaks, they'd talk some more and show pictures or drawings to each other. When the school day was over, they'd walk to the park and spend time there playing. They never went to each others houses, but it didn't matter that much. The two of them were just happy to have a real friend.

There was also the pull both of them felt. For reasons they didn't understand, they felt drawn towards each other. Being together made them feel warm. They chalked it up to them never having friends before. That had to be what was going on. They just kept smiling and enjoying each other's company.

Of course, having a friend didn't stop the bullying. Whenever she was alone, and sometimes even when Prompto was next to her, the girls who loved to pick on Katia would show up and make fun of her. They'd laugh at her, take her things, insult her about whatever they could, call her names, anything that would make her cry. Whenever Prompto wasn't there, he'd ask if she was okay and try to make her stop crying the moment he found her. When he was there, he'd try to make them stop with no luck, usually gaining a few jabs from them in the process. He didn't understand why these girls picked on Katia like that. She didn't deserve it. She was so nice and fun. But she couldn't provide a reason for why they picked on her.

Seeing her cry and get sad because of those girls made Prompto wish he was stronger. Not in strength, just as a person. He wanted to make them back off and leave her alone, but he was too shy and scared to intimidate them or even raise his voice. He wanted to help her more than just trying to comfort her and make her stop crying, she deserved better than what he could do. He tried to block those thoughts out of his mind, thinking about her smiling and talking about the show she watched last night, or how just a few weeks of being friends had made her much more outgoing and energetic. He could tell that being her friend was helping her greatly.

But good things aren't meant to last, it seems.

\----------------------------------

Over a month after they became friends, Katia walked into class with a huge bruise on her face. Her red eyes made it clear she'd been crying. Whispers echoed throughout the classroom as she took her seat. Prompto immediately got up from his seat and went over to her. "W-What happened? Are you okay?" he asked.

Katia looked up at him with a sniffle. "Those girls shoved me into something," she explained. "I didn't see what it was, but it hurt. They were trying to take my backpack, but I wouldn't let them."

"Why did they want it?"

"I dunno. They wouldn't tell me. It was probably just their usual behavior though."

"But they've never hurt you before, not like this."

"Maybe it was just an accident. They ran off when they saw my face. So I'm pretty sure of it." She tried to smile, hoping it would calm the boy down. But her attempts didn't work.

Prompto couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. It seemed like things had gotten worse with those girls ever since he started hanging out with her. It felt like she was being bullied more frequently, more harshly, and that bruise on her face was the last straw. He knew this was all his fault. Hanging around him had only made Katia a bigger target. That was something he never wanted to think was true, but there was no denying it now. He was hurting her, and he wasn't strong enough to protect her. She didn't deserve this, but there was only one way to stop it.

School had ended for the day, and Katia was waiting at the gate for Prompto so they could go to their usual hang out. But he wasn't coming. Concerned, she went inside and tried to find him, only to return to the classroom and see him sitting there at his desk with his camera. "What're you still doing here? School's over, it's time for us to go." she said.

Prompto tensed up, he didn't want to do this but he had to. It was for her benefit, it was to protect her. He kept telling himself that, but it didn't make things any easier. "Katia, we need to talk." he said, still looking at his camera because he didn't dare want to look at her during all this.

The tone of voice worried her, but this had to be important. She sat down in the desk next to his. "Okay, what's going on?"

Prompto took a deep breath. This was going to hurt them both. "I don't want to be your friend anymore."

If he was looking at her, he'd be able to see the shock in her eyes. "W-What d'you mean?" she asked, trying not to freak out.

"I mean what I said. I don't wanna be your friend."

"But why?"

"You deserve someone better than me as a friend. You're gonna keep getting hurt and I can't help you. You should find a new friend and just forget about me."

Katia was stunned, but she didn't want to falter. "If this is about what happened this morning, you had nothing to do with it!" she said, her voice raising in volume. "Those jerks just hurt me on accident, and you weren't even brought up! So please, don't end our friendship over-"

"Stop it!" Prompto's voice was now raising, frustration pouring out. He knew this wouldn't be easy, but this was just too much. "I've already made up my mind on this! I'm not strong enough to be your friend, so quit bothering me! Just leave me alone and don't talk to me ever again!" He was yelling now, tears threatening to escape his eyes.

Katia was already on the verge of tears. "Prompto, please..." Before she could plead with him, he stood up out of his chair and left the room without a word. Katia was all alone. She couldn't stop herself from crying. She'd finally made a friend only to be abandoned. She thought the two of them would always be friends, always be there for each other. But she was wrong. Now she didn't know if she'd ever have another friend again.

Outside the classroom, Prompto had frozen in place upon hearing her crying. He hated himself. He was a terrible person. Katia never deserved such a terrible friend like him. He looked back down at the camera, looking at a picture of the two of them as tears fell on the screen. With a heavy heart, he walked away. He couldn't stand there and listen to her suffer anymore.

\------------------------------------------

Years passed, and the two didn't interact with each other. They sometimes passed each other in hallways, but never spoke. Katia continued enduring the bullying, wishing that Prompto was there to make her feel better. It lessened as she got older and went into middle school, but she still remained lonely and friendless. Prompto meanwhile had had a chance encounter that changed his life, and changed his image. He became determined to befriend the prince, and lost weight to do it. His mind still went to Katia often, but he couldn't bring it in himself to go talk to her.

The two finally made it to their first year of high school, and while Katia didn't recognize him, Prompto sure noticed her. He desperately wanted to say something to her, but the cries of the eight year-old still echoed in his mind. There was no way she'd want to talk to him again after all this time. But Katia had been waiting, hoping that one day Prompto would come back.

He decided that he'd be quiet about the past, act like they hadn't met before. It was a burden he'd have to live with, but she didn't know how much he'd changed so surely it would work. The only problem now was finding the right moment to talk to her.


End file.
